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Operates a global satellite constellation providing voice and data communications anywhere on Earth, including polar regions and oceans.
Operates a global satellite constellation providing voice and data communications anywhere on Earth, including polar regions and oceans.
Sells airtime mainly through resellers and partners who bundle it into their own devices and plans, so revenue is recurring subscription fees plus equipment sales. The US government, mostly the Defense Department, is a large single customer under a long-running airtime contract. The satellite network was fully replaced between 2017 and 2019, ending the main build phase.
Moat: narrow (scale, installed base, regulatory licence). Owns one of very few truly global low-earth-orbit satellite constellations, a costly and slow-to-replicate asset.
Headquarters: McLean, Virginia, United States · Founded: 1988 · Employees: 975
Size Iridium Communications (IRDM) is a United States Communication Services company (Specialty Telecommunications) with a market value of $4.68B, the 1228th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $44.04 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 6.2%, against -2.9% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 3rd highest of 11 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 3.6% over the last twelve months (peer median +7.2%); the operating margin is 19.0% (peer median 8.4%).
Valuation It trades at 64.8× forward earnings against a peer median of 24.7× (2nd most expensive of 9).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 21% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +8%, so the hurdle is +13 pp: the price needs faster growth than the company has been delivering — of companies that just grew 25–50% a year, 93.8% slowed down over the next four years.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 2.9 points below its cost of capital (8.0% WACC).
Short interest Short interest is 2.8% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 18 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $903M | $872M | $831M | $791M | $721M |
| Revenue growth | — | +5% | +5% | +10% | — |
| Gross profit | $423M | $413M | $397M | $283M | $216M |
| EBITDA | $394M | $446M | $407M | $402M | $380M |
| Net income | $163M | $114M | $113M | $15.4M | $8.72M |
| Free cash flow | $278M | $300M | $306M | $241M | $273M |
| Capital expenditure | $113M | $100M | $69.9M | $73.5M | $71.3M |
| Total debt | $2.14B | $1.79B | $1.81B | $1.50B | $1.51B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iridium Communications IRDM | $4.68B | +6% | +4% | 19% | 64.8× | 21.0% |
| Globalstar GSAT | $10.9B | +3% | +8% | 5% | n/a | n/a |
| ViaSat VSAT | $8.81B | -9% | +1% | 2% | n/a | 42.8% |
| EchoStar ECHO | $27.5B | -26% | -20% | 11% | 25.5× | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | IRDM | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | -7.4% | +1.2% | 2nd lowest of 11 |
| 6-month return | +6.2% | -2.9% | 3rd highest of 11 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -23.0% | -21.4% | 6th highest of 11 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +3.6% | +7.2% | 5th lowest of 11 |
| Operating margin | 19.0% | 8.4% | 4th highest of 11 |
| Forward P/E | 64.8× | 24.7× | 2nd most expensive of 9 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 21.0% | 7.7% | 2nd most demanding of 9 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +8.4% | +2.4% | 4th highest of 9 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | +12.7 pp | -1.8 pp | 2nd most demanding of 9 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -2.9 pp | -0.7 pp | 5th lowest of 11 |
| EV / EBITDA | 17.0× | 8.3× | most expensive of 8 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.2× | 3.0× | 2nd most indebted of 8 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iridium Communications IRDM | United States | $4.68B | +6% | +4% | 19% | 64.8× | 21.0% | +8.4% |
| PLDT, Inc. Sponsored ADR PHI | United States | $3.88B | -11% | -2% | 22% | 8.7× | -2.9% | +0.8% |
| 1&1 1U1.DE | Germany | $5.79B | +7% | +8% | 3% | 34.4× | 12.5% | +1.8% |
| ASR Microelectronics 688220.SS | China | $6.56B | +6% | +28% | 1% | 170.1× | n/a | n/a |
| freenet FNTN.DE | Germany | $3.06B | -7% | +10% | 14% | 11.4× | -11.3% | -1.1% |
| Helios Towers HTWS.L | United Kingdom | $3.05B | -8% | +6% | 36% | 30.1× | 13.4% | +15.0% |
| Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane INW.MI | Italy | $7.39B | +1% | +1% | 53% | 19.4× | 8.2% | +10.2% |
| U-NEXT 9418.T | Japan | $2.04B | +17% | +20% | 6% | 17.6× | 0.4% | +17.7% |
| AST SpaceMobile ASTS | United States | $12.6B | -57% | +2,257% | -410% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| China Satellite Communications 601698.SS | China | $13.9B | -40% | -2% | 10% | n/a | 40.0% | -0.3% |
| StarHub CC3.SI | Singapore | $1.41B | +4% | -8% | 5% | 48.0× | 7.2% | +3.0% |